Month: May 2011

Good morning kittens! I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. I sure did. In addition to spending some much needed time with my hubs, I got to spend time with two of my favorite people.

Okay, okay. Crosby is not a person and I do spend 90% of my time with him but I couldn’t resist posting his cute little face. Truth is, my sister Molli came up to visit and help me set up the nursery. Until recently, I had pretty much been using that room as a universal catch all. It was embarrassing and, quite frankly, starting to freak. me. out. I am now 33 weeks into my pregnancy and even though I had purchased mostly all of the nursery furniture, nothing was put together. It was time people. I just couldn’t stare at it any longer. Nesting has officially kicked in.

I should add that my husband is an amazing help. If I need help with anything, he is there. But last week, he started a huge project at his company which basically requires him to work from 7 am until midnight, with a 45 minutes commute each way thrown in. Finding the time to put together all of the furniture was not happening. And because I am in “this must get done NOW” mode, I needed someone else to help right away.

Enter Molli. She happily volunteered to help put together all the furniture and help me organize all of the gifts from the baby shower. Love this girl. I am not sure about you, but most people I know do not jump up and down about putting together Ikea furniture. Not that I that am surprised though. I am incredibly lucky because that is the type of relationship I have with my sisters. They are my best friends. If one of us needs anything, we are there as soon as we can to help. That sort of mentality is central to the way my parents raised us (and probably why all three of us had an obsessive attraction to Little Women as children). I hope that my children share a similar bond.

So after spending the first day playing and eating some delicious food, we started the furniture building process. Yes, she is wearing a dress. That is just how she rolls. After a couple hours and, shockingly, no arguments we had a dresser, a bookcase/changing table, and a crib. I am going to wait to post pictures of the whole room until it is is done but here is a little preview…

So far I am loving this room. Next up…coloring up these walls a bit without painting since we rent. Any ideas (other than decals)?

Last Friday, Reg and I headed out to a beautiful park in Walnut Creek for our maternity shoot. Our photographer Emily, fromEmily Sara Photographyis an incredible natural light photographer and we could not be happier with the images. Clickherefor a little preview!

Good afternoon! I am really excited about today because 1. I have my maternity shoot tonight and 2. this post talks about something I am far too enthusiastic over—cloth diapers! I never really thought I would get this excited talking about something that is essentially a vehicle for pee and poop but ever since I found out I was pregnant I was determined to find out every thing I could about cloth diapering. Now I am not about to get all activitst on you. Yes, I love mama earth and the thought of more diapers piling up in landfills and not decomposing hurts my heart but that is not the only reason why I am so obsessed. I am frugal! And very stubborn. Also if you haven’t heard, babies are really freaking expensive.

Now, my mother attempted cloth diapering me when I was a baby but was quickly fed up with the messy folding, giant pins, and covers. She cautiously warned me that I would have enough on my plate when the baby is born so maybe that was not the best idea. My mother-in-law laughed at the thought saying I would last about a day. Then again, she told me I had cankles last weekend. Isn’t that sweet? My husband looked at me like I was crazy. My sister told me she would not be changing any diapers if I went that route. Determined to prove them wrong, I decided to research cloth diapering like no other and find a way to make it work for my family.

Here is what I have found:

On average, using disposable diapers costs a family about$1,900.00. On the high end, using a moreeco-friendly disposable, you are looking at spending around $3,000.00 until the little one is potty trained. Of course that price all depends on how many times you change diapers and when the child is potty trained. But you get the idea! Then, if you have another child, you have to spend that money all over again. Yikes!

With cloth diapers, you can get all of the diapers you need for around $400.00, including washing costs. It should be noted that there are several types of cloth diapers out there with lots of different price points. For example, some cloth diapers canget as pricey as $1,600.00, including washing costs. However, you can use them for any other babies you may have in the future or youcan evensellthem when you are finished.

The cheapest route for cloth diapering is using prefolds with covers. Prefolds are what I like to call the OG of cloth diapers. They are usually a large piece of fabric folded (thus the clever name) into thirds, wrapped around your baby’s bum, secured with a clip, and then wrapped in a diaper cover. You could also layer the fabric itself into the cover and not use a clip (as seen above). You will need several different size waterproof diaper covers as your child grows but you certainly do not need as many covers as you do inserts.

Now, I was ready to go with the prefold option until I found out about the lovely world of one size all-in-one diapers by Bum Genius. These award winning clothing diapers are essentially the insert and cover all-in-one. The absolute best part about this particular style is thatthey grow with your baby so you do not need to buy a bunch of different sizes. Seeing as convincing my family to use cloth diapers was already a challenge, the fact that the simplicity of these sold them instantly says something. The prefolds…not so much. With the all-in-ones you basically wipe them clean of waste and toss them in your diaper pail, wash, and dry. No stuffing, no layering. Keep in mind these are a large cost upfront at about $17.00 a diaper but again, they will work for any other babies we may have.I added this style to our baby registry and we received about a dozen as gifts, which is a great start to our collection and may even be sufficient once he grows into them.

You see, the only downside to my beloved Bum Genius diapers is that they will most likely not fit my baby when he is a newborn. They usually work best for babies that are about 2 months old (unless you have a big baby). Luckily, Jill fromBaby Rabies,my cloth diapering guru, has a great suggestion for newborn cloth diapers—rentals. For around $200.00 you canrent24 Kissaluvs (highly rated) fitted newborn-sized diapers. Once you are done, you send them back and you receive your choice of a $100.00 cash credit or $110.00 store credit. Pretty cool, right? The Kissaluvs do require a diaper cover but since I decided on renting these months ago I added them to my registry and someone kindly purchased them for us as gifts.

Overall, I am going into this whole cloth diapering adventure really excited and hopeful but not naive. There are many other cloth diapering options and I picked the ones that I see working best for our family. I do have some disposables on hand that I received as gifts just in case. Plus, when we travel and are without access to a washer and dryer I will probably rely on disposables. But I feel pretty confident about my ability to cloth diaper my bambino. Am I freaking out about all the added laundry? Not really. I took care of enough babies to realize that when you have kids, you do a lot of laundry anyway.

As far as other diapering needs, I have a standard garbage pail I bought from Target lined with a Planet Wise washable liner for used diapers. I can even throw the liner in the washer with the diapers. Eventually, I plan on using cloth wipes but I am going to start slow.Until then, I am open to suggestions or helpful hints with cloth diapering.

xo

P.S. Totally off topic but there is the gorgeous giveaway going on over at E Tells Tales. If you haven’t checked out her blog, please do. She is easily one of my favorite bloggers!

Before I was pregnant, I worked out pretty intensely. My husband has always been very active so working out was also something we did to spend time together. Whether I was taking a spin class, hot power yoga, or just lifting weights at the gym, I was always finding a way to sweat once a day. I love the way working out makes mefeel!

Once I found out I was pregnant, I knew that I would not give up on working out altogether (unless my doctor recommended that I do) but I would have to scale back significantly on the intensity. I had to say goodbye to my beloved hot yoga, for instance. I was fortunate and my doctors really encouraged me to continue working out while keeping my heart rate in check (around 140 BPM). My understanding is that doctors will typically tell you to keep your heart rate under 140 BPM but I find that I can keep mine a bit higher and baby and I feel great.

At almost 32 weeks, I am excited about the fact that I have continued my workout routine pretty steadily. In fact, I find that when I am feeling a bit tired and “off,” a quick trip to the gym will immediately help me feel better. Other times, I recognize that I need to take it easy. It is amazing how in tune with your body you become when you are pregnant. I truly know the difference between craving a workout and craving a nap. I have to laugh, though, because when I am in my community gym, people often give me weird looks when I hop on the elliptical with my round belly–similar to the looks you receive when youwear a bikini in your third trimester. Good times!

So here is my typical workout schedule:

*Keep in mind this is what works for me and has been discussed with my doctor in detail.

4-5 days a week I use the elliptical machine– 30 minutes (alternating levels 5-8) with a 5 minute cool down (level 1).

Every other day I extend the workout a bit more. Some days I lift light weights (bicep curls, shoulder press, tricep extensions) all while sitting on a big yoga ball. Other days, I love Jennifer Wolfe’sPrenatal Vinyasa Yoga DVD. The instructor has a soothing voice and the workout itself is a nice challenge. Plus, there are several options if you are short on time.

And my favorite part of my routine–lots of stretching!

I hope that I will be able to settle into some kind of exercise routine once my little guy arrives but I am going to take it slow and enjoy every magical moment.

This past weekend, my family hosted the most incredible baby shower. While the shower itself was not a surprise, the details of the day were all a huge shock. My mother and aunt really took the time to think of Reggie and I as a couple and translated those likes and dislikes into a fun, whimsical day.

Not only was the event design beautiful but the people that attended the party truly made the event. I was reunited with family from the east coast and friends I had not seen in months. Both my girl and guy friends came to celebrate and even sat through the ridiculously long gift opening process. I am so incredibly lucky to have such amazing people in my life and I know they are going to love and support this baby so much.